1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a taking optical system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a compact taking optical system suitable for use in a camera provided with a solid-state image device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a camera (for example, video camera or television camera) that shoots an object by directing a light beam incoming through a taking optical system to a solid-state image device such as a CCD (charge-coupled device) consisting of an array of light-sensing devices, a condensing microlens is provided on the light-receiving side of each of the light-sensing device to enhance its light-receiving efficiency. To make the most of the light-condensing ability of the microlenses, conventional taking optical systems are designed to have their exit pupil substantially at infinity (i.e. designed as an optical system that is substantially telecentric toward the image side). This is because, if a taking optical system has its exit pupil substantially at infinity, even an off-axial light beam strikes the light-sensing devices from a direction substantially perpendicular to the light-receiving surfaces of the light-sensing devices, and thus it is possible to make the most of the light-condensing ability of the microlenses.
The recent trend toward more compact cameras has been creating the need for taking optical systems having shorter overall lengths. However, as taking optical systems are made shorter, their exit pupil inevitably comes closer to the image surface; as the exit pupil comes closer to the image surface, the angle at which an off-axial light beam strikes the microlenses disposed at the periphery of an image deviates more from a right angle with respect to the light-receiving surfaces of the light-sensing devices. As a result, the light-condensing ability of the microlenses is impaired at the periphery of the image, and thus images shot by the solid-state image device suffer from uneven brightness between their central and peripheral portions. As described above, conventional taking optical systems are imperfect because, in them, it is not possible to reduce the overall length with the exit pupil placed at a substantially infinite position.